Haboob Blog

Foles’ start marks the end of a ridiculous streak

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick will miss Sunday’s game against the Washington Redskins as he recovers from a concussion suffered last week.

That means rookie Nick Foles will take the controls of the Eagles’ offense in his first start as a professional quarterback. And when Foles takes that first snap Sunday, a remarkable, almost unbelievable streak will come to an end.

Foles will become the first University of Arizona quarterback to start a game in the National Football League since Bill Demory of the New York Jets made his third and final NFL start in a 40-28 loss to the Denver Broncos October 28, 1973.

Think about that…it’s been 39 years since a UA signal caller started a game in the league. It got us to thinking — has any other Pac-12 team had that long of a stretch without producing a starting quarterback in the NFL?

The answer is a resounding ‘no’!

All other Pac-12 Conference teams have had multiple starting quarterbacks since Demory started for the Jets. Heck, there were five Pac-12 teams who had starting quarterbacks in the NFL last weekend!

Here’s a list of the most recent NFL starter for each Pac-12 team:

Arizona State – Andrew Walter, Oakland Raiders, 12-4-2008

California – Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers, 11-11-2012

Colorado – Koy Detmer, Philadelphia Eagles, 1-2-2005

Oregon – A.J. Feeley, St. Louis Rams, 12-4-2011

Oregon State – Matt Moore, Miami Dolphins, 1-1-2012

Stanford – Andrew Luck, Indianapolis Colts, 11-11-2012

UCLA – Tommy Maddox, Pittsburgh Steelers, 11-20-2005

USC – Matt Cassel, Kansas City Chiefs, 11-12-2012

Utah – Alex Smith, San Francisco 49ers, 11-11-2012

Washington – Jake Locker, Tennessee Titans, 11-11-2012

Washington State – Drew Bledsoe, Dallas Cowboys, 10-23-2006

In all, there have been 86 different quarterbacks from the current formation of the Pac-12 that have made 3,785 starts in the NFL since that fateful day in 1973.

But when Foles takes that first snap Sunday, it’ll be Colorado taking over ownershop of the longest span since having a starting quarterback in the league.

Arizona State (8 QBs, 358 starts)

Todd Hons – 3*

Paul Justin – 10

Mark Malone – 53

Mike Pagel – 54

Jake Plummer – 136

Jeff Van Raaphorst – 1*

Andrew Walter – 9

Danny White – 92

California (6 QBs, 354 starts)

Steve Bartkowski – 127

Kyle Boller – 47

Gale Gilbert – 4

Craig Morton – 98

Aaron Rodgers – 71

Jeff Van Raaphorst – 1*

Troy Taylor – 7

Colorado (3 QBs, 99 starts)

Koy Detmer – 8

Craig Penrose – 4

Kordell Stewart – 87

Oregon (10 QBs, 393 starts)

Bob Berry – 1

Kellen Clemens – 12

Dennis Dixon – 3

A.J. Feeley – 18

Dan Fouts – 168

Tony Graziani – 5

Joey Harrington – 76

Chris Miller – 92

Bill Musgrave – 1

Akili Smith – 17

Oregon State (3 QBs, 69 starts)

Derek Anderson – 43

Matt Moore – 25

Erik Wilhelm – 1

Stanford (13 QBs, 483 starts)

Mike Boryla – 19

John Brodie – 3

Steve Dils – 27

Trent Edwards – 33

John Elway – 231

Randy Fasani – 1

Jesse Freitas – 7

Chad Hutchinson – 14

Babe Laufenberg – 7

Andrew Luck – 9

Jim Plunkett – 110

Turk Schonert – 12

Steve Stenstrom – 10

UCLA (10 QBs, 416 starts)

Troy Aikman – 165

Steve Bono – 42

Billy Kilmer – 48

Tommy Maddox – 36

Cade McNown – 15

Rick Neuheisel – 2*

David Norrie – 2*

Tom Ramsey – 5

Jay Schroeder – 99

Matt Stevens – 2*

USC (13 QBs, 511 starts)

Matt Cassel – 61

Vince Evans – 39

Pat Haden – 55

Rob Johnson – 29

Matt Leinart – 18

Todd Marinovich – 8

Paul McDonald – 21

Carson Palmer – 115

Rodney Peete – 87

Mike Rae – 8

Sean Salisbury – 12

Turk Schonert – 12

Mark Sanchez – 56

Scott Tinsley – 2*

Utah (2 QBs, 146 starts)

Scott Mitchell – 71

Alex Smith – 75

Washington (13 QBS, 623 starts)

Mark Brunell – 151

Chris Chandler – 152

Cary Conklin – 2

Tom Flick – 3

Billy Jo Hobert – 17

Brock Huard – 4

Damon Huard – 27

Jake Locker – 5

Hugh Millen – 25

Warren Moon – 203

Steve Pelluer – 30

Cody Pickett – 2

Marques Tuiasosopo – 2

Washington State (5 QBs, 333 starts)

Drew Bledsoe – 193

Ryan Leaf – 21

Timm Rosenbach – 20

Mark Rypien – 78

Jack Thompson – 21

* – Denotes starts made during 1987 NFL player strike.

NOTE: The above figures only indicate starts made on or after October 28, 1973